Bachmann's top VP picks: Trump, Santorum
Michele Bachmann's status as frontrunner in the Republican presidential race appears to have faded, but the Minnesota congresswoman is already tapping some of her peers as potential vice presidential picks.
The candidate, in a Thursday interview with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, didn't shy away from naming potential running mates - among them real estate mogul-turned-reality TV star and perennial possible presidential contender Donald Trump.
She also mentioned fellow presidential candidate Rick Santorum, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, and conservative South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint as possible picks for her cabinet or VP slots.
"I think that Rick Santorum is a wonderful man personally, but also, I think that he's very gifted when it comes to the area of legal issues," Bachmann told Van Susteren. "And I think I could see him as an attorney general. I think he'd do a great job. I haven't talked to Rick about that, but I think he'd be wonderful, or another cabinet position." I think that he'd also be on my short list of people that I would consider for my VP.
When asked who she might name from the list of non-presidential contender, Bachmann said "We've got a lot of wonderful candidates who would fit that bill."
"Easily comes to mind I think would be Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina. Marco Rubio of Florida certainly would be in that category. There's a lot of great people out there. And Donald Trump is someone that I think a lot of people would be intrigued," she said.
Bachmann, who has met with Trump a handful of times throughout the course of her campaign, stressed the urgency of the 2012 election.
"This is a highly unusual election," she said. "This is America's last chance to get it right. We've got to get the country back on the rails.
The candidate, who now falls in the single digits in most polls, was confident that she'd end up as the Republican presidential nominee.
"I'm the only candidate in this race that's been a consistent, no-surprises conservative," she said. "I can't wait to shred [President Obama's] radical agenda to pieces in the debate."
